Wendy
Wendy is the third unlockable Character (640 XP, see Experience for more information on how to unlock her). Wendy has a morbid personality; she always relates everything to death, including herself. At night, there is a chance for the Ghost of her twin sister Abigail to spawn. Abigail Abigail is Wendy's twin sister, and as Wendy's perk, will occasionally appear at night. Abigail follows Wendy and attacks mobs that either attack Wendy or Wendy attacks. Abigail does try to keep her distance from the player; however she will damage the player if they touch her. Strategy As of the Underground update, Abigail is the only factor that differentiates Wendy from any other character, so any survival strategies will revolve around how best to utilize the unique characteristics of Wendy's deceased sister. In general, Abigail's benefits are more beneficial during early survival days, and only situational, and sometimes detrimental, during the later survival days. For these reasons, Wendy is generally considered an "intermediate" level character. A Ghostly Start Abigail will be of the most use to the player during the first 20 or so survival days before Winter on default settings. In the hands of an experienced player, Abigail's unique properties can be greatly utilized to give a strong start towards setting up a stable base camp, defending against Hound attacks, and farming early Spider Dens. Given the somewhat inconsistent nature of Abigail's arrival, it is sometimes difficult to find the perfect opportunity to use her powerful AoE (Area of Attack) damage, making her benefit to the player very situational most of the time. However, given the fact that most of the early game should be generally spent exploring and living a more "nomadic" survival lifestyle, Abigail may appear under beneficial circumstances more often than not, especially since the early days usually involve further gathering and exploration at Dusk when she first appears. Abigail's AoE attack is powerful simply for the fact that it is the only one of its kind in the game, aside from other Ghosts. There are many situations where large clusters of Mobs present a nice opportunity to be burned down with an AoE attack that damages all enemies equally, but due to the fact that Abigail only comes with 300 health, the equivalent of only 3 Spiders, she can't really "tank" large groups effectively. This makes Abigail more suited for attacking smaller groups, such as the 3 spiders that spawn from a tier 1 Spider Den, which appear early in the game. Mobs that form larger groups in the early game, like Killer Bees, Frogs, and Beefalo, will assuredly kill Abigail before she is fully capable of doing a significant amount of damage to the group, unless of course they are able to be singled out. This pretty much narrows Abigail's early game utility down to farming small groups of Spiders for Silk, and easily dispatching a Pig or two alone in the forest. *The silk can give Wendy quick access to Bug Nets for a Honey farm strategy, or Fishing Rods for a Fish based survival strategy. *The pigs can allow Wendy early access to Football Helmets for added protection while farming Spiders, and extra Meat for more powerful Crock Pot Recipes. In regards to Pigs, Abigail is especially efficient at killing them due to the nature of their attack pattern. Pigs like to attack and run away in an attempt to "kit" their enemy. When they close in on Abigail, they will attack once and she will in turn "stun lock" them while dealing constant damage to all enemies around her. Other mobs with more aggressive attack patterns, like Beefalo and Frogs, have a tendency to burn through Abigail's health more quickly. Abigail's benefit to the player can offer a stronger start than most other characters, and in general is on par with the benefits provided by Willow's perk, but still not as powerful as Wickerbottom's perk is for early game survival. When the player enters the later survival days (35+), Abigail's use to the player begins to wane, and sometimes even detriments the player altogether. Late-Game Apparitions When the player begins to enter the late-game survival days, Abigail takes on an entirely different role, one more of annoyance and impediment for the player. Originally, the chief complaint about Abigail, and why Wendy was almost never used for late-game survival, was her proclivity for setting off the player's Bee Mines and Tooth Traps. This was a major detriment for keeping the player's camp safe from outside attackers, which becomes an increasingly greater threat as the days progress. As of the Underground update, this issue has finally been resolved. However, this doesn't mean Abigail can't still cause considerable problems in the player's camp. For example, if the player has a set of Pig Houses in their base, Abigail may accidentally brush into one of them, and in turn "aggro" the entire group of pigs. Since Abigail is somewhat effective at dispatching Pigs, this will most likely result in at least one dead Pig that the player would rather see alive, and begin the long 4 day respawn timer before he returns. Furthermore, if the player happens to be gathering Honey from a group of Bee Boxes when Dusk approaches and Abigail appears, there is a very good chance she could aggro the group and end up killing several Bees before being killed herself, effectively slowing the player's Honey production. Abigail in general has a tendency to get in the player's way more than anything. Whether it's simply moving through their base camp, or during a chaotic fight with Tentacles and Merms in the middle of a Marsh, it is almost guaranteed that at one point during the player's survival career they will collide with Abigail and sustain damage from her, sometimes under extremely inopportune circumstances; this makes Abigail more of a liability in the late-game more than anything. Her ability to draw aggro from the player while attacking groups of Spiders can be supplemented with Chester if used effectively, and her eagerness to attack a mob that the player may have accidentally clicked on from afar has a tendency to create unnecessary risks. In addition, during the late-game survival days, and especially in Winter, the player is typically more sedentary and doesn't need to leave their base as often during the Dusk hours. This usually results in Abigail spawning near the player for little more than a nighttime companion to pass the time, making her presence essentially superfluous. Overall, Abigail allows Wendy to build up a strong early-game start with added protection and better mob farming efficiency. In the later survival days, her use to the player quickly deteriorates, and she rapidly begins to fill the role of "floating nightlight" and little more. Due to these facts, Wendy's recommended skill level is "intermediate." Triva * Wendy's voice is sounded by an alto flute. * When she examines a crow, she says "Take thy beak out of my heart" This is reference to a famous poem "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe. * When she examines a pond, she says "Ophelia, are you down there?" This is reference to a fictional character who committed suicide by drowning herself in the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare * When she examines a rabbit hole, she says "I'm too big to fall in there" This is a reference to Alice's Adventures in wonderland, a novel by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known under his pseudonym "Lewis Carroll". * When she examines a pig head, she says "Kill the pig! Spill his blood!" This is a reference to a chant the kids yell in the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding.